The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) Stake Increased by Natixis Advisors LLC

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of The Middleby Co. (NASDAQ:MIDD) by 13.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,941 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 10,396 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Middleby were worth $12,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Middleby by 820.0% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 322 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Middleby by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 398 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $54,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its position in Middleby by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 566 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Middleby by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 622 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Middleby during the 3rd quarter valued at $88,000. 98.55% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Middleby news, Director Chapin Sarah Palisi sold 500 shares of Middleby stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.51, for a total value of $81,755.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,209.61. The trade was a 7.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MIDD. Barclays increased their price objective on Middleby from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Middleby from $160.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Middleby from $192.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (down from $170.00) on shares of Middleby in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Middleby from $157.00 to $227.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Middleby has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.86.

Middleby Price Performance

NASDAQ MIDD opened at $154.90 on Thursday. The Middleby Co. has a 1 year low of $118.41 and a 1 year high of $182.73. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $8.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 1.72.

Middleby (NASDAQ:MIDD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 25th. The industrial products company reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.50 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $996.69 million. Middleby had a net margin of 10.14% and a return on equity of 14.66%. The business’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Middleby Co. will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

Middleby Profile

The Middleby Corporation designs, markets, manufactures, distributes, and services foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchen equipment worldwide. Its Commercial Foodservice Equipment Group segment offers conveyor, combi, convection, baking, proofing, deck, speed cooking, and hydrovection ovens; ranges, fryers, and rethermalizers; steam cooking, food warming, catering, induction cooking, and countertop cooking equipment; heated cabinets, charbroilers, ventless cooking systems, kitchen ventilation, toasters, griddles, charcoal grills, professional mixers, stainless steel fabrication, custom millwork, professional refrigerators, blast chillers, cold rooms, ice machines, and freezers; soft serve ice cream, coffee and beverage dispensing, home and professional craft brewing equipment; and fry dispensers, bottle filling and canning equipment, IoT solutions, and controls development and manufacturing.